How to stretch after flexibility training

After flexibility training, the safest way is to first do 1-2 minutes of slow walking and local shaking to relax, and then do low-load static stretching for no more than 5 minutes on the parts you just trained. The stretching intensity should be controlled to a range where there is a slight stretch but no tingling or soreness at all. There is no need to increase the amount of time.

In fact, the current fitness and sports rehabilitation circles have not come to a completely unified conclusion on this matter. Many trainers feel that flexibility training itself has given sufficient stretching stimulation to muscle fibers, tendons and joint capsules. Subsequent additional stretching will increase the probability of soft tissue micro-injury, and may even offset part of the newly obtained flexibility gains.； There are also many practitioners who insist on doing post-class finishing and stretching, believing that it can adjust the muscle fibers that have been continuously stretched during training back to a relatively natural state and reduce the probability of subsequent delayed onset soreness.

A while ago, I met a yoga enthusiast who took flexibility classes three times a week. She always felt that more stretching after class would be more effective. After each get out of class, she would leave 20 minutes to deepen her hip and shoulder opening movements. As a result, she suffered from stretching pain in the adductors and levator scapulae muscles for three consecutive weeks, which affected her raising her hands and walking. Later, she cut the total duration of stretching after class to less than 3 minutes, and no longer deliberately stretched to the maximum extent when stretching. The uncomfortable pain gradually disappeared.

To be honest, this is a bit like pulling a rubber band. If you pull the rubber band close to its maximum range and hold it for a long time, you have achieved the purpose of training its ductility. If you still hold it tightly and pull it hard and refuse to loosen it, it will easily lose its original resilience and even develop fine cracks.

Of course, you don’t need to be too dogmatic. If you didn’t move a certain part during the training and you still feel a little stiff and tight after the training, you can do targeted exercises for about 1 minute. As long as the intensity is moderate and don’t rush the range as much as during training, you will be fine. When I teach flexibility training to amateurs, I usually ask everyone to walk slowly around the field twice after the class, shake their arms and legs, and then find a wall to randomly pull on the parts they just practiced. Very few people suffer from soreness or strain after class.